Flushing-attachment-plug receptacle.



No. 793,197. PATENTED JUNE 27, 1.905. H. HUBBELL.

FLUSH ATTACHMENT PLUG REGEPTAGLE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.25,1905.

INVENTOR AUORNEY UNITED STATES Patented June 27, 1905.

PATENT OEEICE.

FLUSH-ATTACHMENT-PLUG RECEPTACLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 793,197, dated June 2'?, 1905.

Application filed February 25, 1905. Serial No. 247,303.

To all 1071/0711, it may concer-71,.-

Beit known th at I, HARVEY I-IUBB ELL, a citizen ot' the United States` residing at Bridg'eport, county of Fairlield, State ot' Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Flusl Attachment-Plug Receptacle, of which the following' is a specilication.

My invention has for its general object to produce a practical direct-acting Hush-attachment-plug' receptacle that will avoid the objections raised by the underwriters to receptacles of this type now upon the market and shall have for its special objects to produce a liush-attachment-plug receptacle that will provide ample current-carrying capacity, in which the possibility of arcing' or sparking in making' the contact shall be wholly done away with, in which there shall be no eX- posed terminals, which will do away with the necessity for a hinged cover or lid, will permit all electrical connections with the plug' to be made from the front Without removing the base or opening the wall-pocket, and which can under no circumstances be dangerous to the user.

Tith these and other objects in view I have devised the novel tlush-attachment-plug receptacle, which I will now describe, referring to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ot' this speciiication, and using reference characters to indicate the several parts.

Figure 1 is an elevation of my `novel iiushattachment-plug receptacle as in use, the cap being in place and a portion of the face-plate broken away to show the wall-pocket; Fig. 2, a longitudinal section of the receptacle complete and attached to a wall-pocket, the cap beingin elevation; Fig'. 3, a plan view oi' the receptacle detached, the cap being' removed; Fig'. 4, a similar view, the covering-block being removed; Fig. 5, a section of the base on the line 5 5 in Fig'. 4; Fig. 6, a section of the covering-block on the line 6 6 in Fig. 3; Fig. 7, an elevation of the cap detached; Fig. 8, an inverted plan view of the covering-block detached; and Fig'. 9 is an end view of one of the end plates detached, as from the bottom of the sheet in Fig. 3.

A denotes the base, and B the coveringblock, of my novel attachment-plug receptacle, both oi' which are preferably made of porcelain; C, the face-plate; D, the cap, and E a wall-pocket, which may be of any ordinary or preferred construction. The base is provided with a-transverse recess 10, which receives the covering-block. The outer face of the covering-block in the assembled position lies substantially iiush with the top ot' the base and is provided with a rosette 11, which projects through a central opening 12 in the face-plate, the top of the rosette lying substantially flush with the outer surface ot' the face-plate. In the base of recess 10 are recesses 13, in which the contact-plates 14 are secured.

15 denotes raised portions on the bottom ot' recess 10, and 16 depressions which interlock, respectively, with corresponding depressions 17 and raised portions 18 on the under side ot' covering-block B to retain the covering-block against lateral displacement on the base.

19 denotes recesses in the sides of the base through which the electrical connections may pass from the wall-pocket for attachment to the contact-plates by binding-screws 20. The covering-block is secured tothe base by means oi' a center screw 2l, the head oi' which lies in a recessl 22 in the outer side oi' the covering-block and which passes through both covering-block and base and engages a nut 9.3 in a recess 24 in the back oi' the base. The base is attached to the wall-pocket by means ot' screws 25, which pass through slots 26 in end Aplates 27, which are secured to the base by means of screws 9.8. By providing' two slots in each end plate I insure that the base may be attached to any ordinary wall-pocket and also that the base may be shifted slightly to place the face-plate in alinement with moldings or casings should the wall-pocket be set out of alinement. As it is required that the projecting attaching ends of the end plates be relatively thin and that they be made relatively heavy where they are attached to the base, so as to give ample strength where the strain comes in use, I have devised a special form of end plate made ot' relatively thin pocket.

sheet metal and doubled upon itself in order to give strength where it is required. (See Fig. Q in connection with Figs. 3 and 9.) The end plates are rigidly locked against lateral movement by means of flanges 29, which are `turned down into longitudinal grooves 30 in the face of the base at the ends.

31 denotes recesses in the under side of the face-plate, which receive the heads of screws 25, by which the base is attached to the wall- The face-plate is secured to the base by means of screws 32, which pass through from the front and engage the doubled portion of the end plates, recesses 33 being provided in the ends of the base to receive screws 28 and 32. The cap is shown as provided with knife-blade contacts 34, which are adapted to engage contacts 14. It should be noted, however, that the contact plates, although they are secured to the base, lie in insulatingchambers 35 in the covering block and that the knife-blade contacts can only engage the contact-plates in these chambers and after they have been passed through contracted insulating-passages 86, which lead from the face of the rosette into the insulating-chambers.

The operation of my novel attachment-plug receptacle is so simple as to hardly require explanation. The base is attached in place in a wall-pocket by means of screws 25, which pass through the slots in the end plates. The electrical connections are passed through recesses 19 in the base and are connected to the binding-screws, and the covering-block is attached to the base by means of the center screw, the corresponding raised portions and depressions on the base and block acting to retain the covering-block firmly in place upon the base and prevent lateral movement. The face-plate is then placed in position, the rosette extending through thc central opening, and is secured in place by means of screws 32, which engage the end plates. Should it be required at any time to detach the electrical connections, it can be done from the front without removing the base from the wallpocket by simply removing the face-plate and covering-block. I thus dispense entirely with the use of a hinged cover or lid, which has been found so objectionable in most of the attachment-plug receptacles now in use. In making an electrical connection with the receptacle the operator simply passes the knifeblade contacts upon the cap through the insulating-passages in the rosette and into engagement with the contact-plates in the insulating-chambers. The knife blade contacts are shown as provided with recesses 37, which are engaged by locking-springs 38 in the insulating-chambers to retain the cap securely in engagement with the plug. To disengage the cap, it is of course necessary to pull upon it strongly enough to overcome the engagement of the locking-springs with the recesses in the knife-blade contacts, the movement of the cap being direct both in attaching' and withdrawing.

Having thus described my claim l. In a iush-attachment-plug receptacle, the combination with a base having a'transverse recess and contact-plates extending upward from the bottom thereof, of a coveringblock lying in said recess and having insulating-chambers receiving the contact-plates, contracted insulating-passages leading into said insulating-chambers and a center screw passing through the covering-block and base whereby said parts are locked together.

2. In a flush-attachment-plug receptacle, the combination with a base having a transverse recess, raised portions and depressed portions in the bottom thereof and contactplates secured in said recess, of a coveringblock lying in said recess and having raised and depressed portions corresponding with the raised and depressed portions in the bottom of the recess, insulating-chambers which receive the contact-plates, contracted insulatingpassages leading into the insulating-chambers and a center screw whereby the base and covering-block are locked together, the corresponding recesses and depressions in the base and covering-block holding the latter against displacement.

3. In a ush-attachment-plugreceptacle, the combination with a base having a transverse recess, contact-plates secured in said recess and end plates adapted for attachment to a wall-pocket, of a covering-block lying in the recess and having insulating-chambers receiving the contact-plates and contracted insulating-passages leading into the insulating-chambers, a center screw whereby the covering- `block is secured to the base and a face-plate attached to the end plates and having a central opening through which the insulatingpassages are exposed.

4. In a lush-attachment-plug receptacle, the combination with a base having a transverse recess, and longitudinal grooves in its face at the ends, contact-plates secured in said recess and end plates secured to the base and having flanges turned down into the grooves, of a covering-block lying in the recess and having insulating-chambers receiving the contact-plates and contracted insulating-passages leading into the insulating-chambers.

5. In a iush-attachment-plug receptacle, the combination with a base having a transverse recess and longitudinal grooves in its face, contact-plates secured in said recess, end plates made of relatively thin metal so as to provide thin attaching ends and doubled upon themselves at the point of attachment to the base and having iianges turned down into the grooves in the base to retain them in place, and screws in the base by which the end plates are invention, I

IIO

secured thereto, of acovering-hlock secured in the recess and having insulating-chambers receiving the contact-plates and contracted insulating-passages leading into the insulatingchambers.

6. In a flush-attachment-plug receptacle, the combination with a base having a transverse recess, contact-plates secured in said recess and end plates having projecting ends with slots to receive screws for attachment to a wall-pocket, of a covering-block lyingin the recess and having' insulating-chambers receiving the contact-plates and contracted insulatingpassages leading into the insulating-chambers, and a face plate attached to the end plates and having in its under side recesses to receive the screws which attach the base to a wall-pocket and a central opening through which the insulating-passages are exposed.

7. In a flush-attachment-plug receptacle,

HARVEY HUBBELL.

Witnesses:

A. M. WoosTER, S. WV. ATHERTON. 

